NOTE TO ALL APPLICANTS FROM LEE RITENOUR:

First off, I would like to thank all the musicians that applied to the 2016 Six String Theory Competition. I was thrilled that 170 countries visited our website and 45 countries from around the world signed up for the competition. I personally looked at hundreds of videos the last few months and I can honestly say I’m humbled by the sheer amount of talent from around the world that joined the competition.

I’ve said this before, that in general, I don’t like competitions. Music is not about competition… It’s about giving, growing and bringing joy to other people’s lives through music. I believe with our Six String Theory Competition, we try to reach beyond the competition part to encourage musicians to share their music and have a goal to improve. We’ve had several people who have signed up previously for Six String and either not placed at all or did not reach very high in the rankings. Then we’ve had those same people apply in later years, and in some cases, place very high or even win the grand prize.

This year’s winners were an amazing diverse group of musicians and sometimes the first place, second and third were separated by a few votes. All of the judges wrote back to us that this year was very challenging because of the amazing amount of talent and diversity.

I encourage all the musicians that joined our competition to keep going forward…The gift of receiving and giving music is truly one of the most beautiful things on Earth and all of you are certainly doing just that!

-Lee Ritenour

NOTE TO ALL SST JUDGES FROM LEE RITENOUR:

Hi everyone! We have wrapped up the 2016 Six String Theory Competition and I want to thank everyone for taking their valuable time to vote and help out this year… I know everyone is super busy and we really appreciate the time and effort. Everyone did a fantastic job and many of you made very astute and helpful comments regarding your selections. SST was more successful than ever reaching musicians around the world. 170 countries visited the SST site and musicians from 45 countries signed up. We had winners from the US, France, England, Canada, India, Indonesia, Brazil and Hungary…definitely global!

As all of us know, the music business has radically changed, but one thing remains constant, people still love music and the musicians who make it. You are all proof of that and these young winners are certainly proof that we’re in good hands with the next generation of musicians. Thanks so much for your support! Much love, Lee

WINNERS ANNOUNCED for the 2016 COMPETITION!!

Posted on June 7, 2016

Congratulations to the 2016 Six String Theory Winners & Finalists!

**Please Read Note from Lee Ritenour Below the Lists

**All Finalists & Winners Who Were Interested in a Berklee Scholarship, were Submitted for Consideration to Berklee

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS (each instrument)

GUITAR (tie): Roland Balogh (jazz)- Hungary

GUITAR (tie): Carter Low (blues)- Canada

PIANO: Nicolas Hetko- New York, USA

BASS: Isaias Elpes- USA/Brazil

DRUMS: Raphael Pannier- France

GUITAR CATEGORY WINNERS:

Jazz/Fusion Guitar Winner: Roland Balogh- Hungary

Acoustic Guitar Winner: Rhythm Shaw- India

Rock Guitar Winner: Tom Caunt- UK

Blues Guitar Winner: Carter Low, Canada

Rhythm Guitar Winner: Peter Skrabak- California, USA

Classical Guitar Winner: Stephen Lee- Indonesia

Jazz/Fusion Guitar Winner: Roland Balogh- Hungary

1st Runner Up: Roman Nochevnyy- Turkmenistan

2nd Runner Up: Pablo Romeu- Brazil

3rd Runner Up: Ilya Kamaldinov- Russia

4th Runner Up: Eduardo Belloni- Brazil

5th Runner Up: Jan Jakut- Washington, USA

Acoustic Guitar Winner: Rhythm Shaw- India

1st Runner Up: Sandor Nanasi- Hungary

2nd Runner Up: Kris Schulz- Canada

3rd Runner Up: Antonio Palumbo- Italy

4th Runner Up: Jamie Dupuis- Canada

5th Runner Up: Dan Bankhurst- Tennessee, USA

Rock Guitar Winner: Tom Caunt- UK

1st Runner Up: Elmo Karjalainen- Finland

2nd Runner Up: Craig Pirtle- California, USA

3rd Runner Up: Luke Fortini- Italy

4th Runner Up: Jorge Almarales- Florida, USA

5th Runner Up: Luciano Silva- Brazil

Blues Guitar Winner: Carter Low- Canada

1st Runner Up: Hayden Fogle- New York, USA

2nd Runner Up: Tommy Benson- Florida, USA

3rd Runner Up: Gary Cain- Canada

4th Runner Up: Marc Athlan- France

5th Runner Up: James Howard- Washington, USA

Rhythm Guitar Winner: Peter Skrabak- California, USA

1st Runner Up: Viktor Geczy- Hungary

2nd Runner Up: Brad Bailey- North Carolina, USA

3rd Runner Up: Yu Ooka- California, USA

4th Runner Up: Orion Meshorer – Israel

5th Runner Up: Jesse Sullivan- Washington, USA

Classical Guitar Winner: Stephen Lee- Indonesia

1st Runner Up: Ricardo Giuffrida- Brazil

2nd Runner Up: Dominic Flynn- California, USA

3rd Runner Up: Alex Park- California, USA

4th Runner Up: Giorgi Kveliashvili- Georgia (country)

5th Runner Up: Jasmin Lacasse Roy- Canada

Piano Grand Prize Winner: Nicholas Hetko- New York, USA

1st Runner Up: Michael Ragonese- California, USA

2nd Runner Up: Yakub Saputra- California, USA

3rd Runner Up: Tim Dvorkin- Ohio, USA

4th Runner Up: Katarina Kochetova- Serbia

5th Runner Up: Brian Clay- Tennessee, USA

Bass Grand Prize Winner: Isaias Elpes- USA/Brazil

1st Runner Up: Bryan Ladd- New York, USA

2nd Runner Up: Brandon Rose- Michigan, USA

3rd Runner Up: Joe Duran- California, USA

4th Runner Up: Jacob Smith- Texas, USA

5th Runner Up: Naoki Isobe- Japan

Drum Grand Prize Winner: Raphael Pannier- France

1st Runner Up: Yesaya Soemantri – Indonesia

2nd Runner Up: Shedly Abraham- New York, USA

3rd Runner Up: Jeroen Truyen- Germany

4th Runner Up: David Hodek- Slovakia

5th Runner Up: Jacori Robinson- Texas, USA

NOTE FROM LEE RITENOUR:

First off, I would like to thank all the musicians that applied to the 2016 Six String Theory Competition. I was thrilled that 170 countries visited our website and 45 countries from around the world signed up for the competition. I personally looked at hundreds of videos the last few months and I can honestly say I’m humbled by the sheer amount of talent from around the world that joined the competition.

I’ve said this before, that in general, I don’t like competitions. Music is not about competition… It’s about giving, growing and bringing joy to other people’s lives through music. I believe with our Six String Theory Competition, we try to reach beyond the competition part to encourage musicians to share their music and have a goal to improve. We’ve had several people who have signed up previously for Six String and either not placed at all or did not reach very high in the rankings. Then we’ve had those same people apply in later years, and in some cases, place very high or even win the grand prize.

This year’s winners were an amazing diverse group of musicians and sometimes the first place, second and third were separated by a few votes. All of the judges wrote back to us that this year was very challenging because of the amazing amount of talent and diversity.

I encourage all the musicians that joined our competition to keep going forward…The gift of receiving and giving music is truly one of the most beautiful things on Earth and all of you are certainly doing just that!

-Lee Ritenour

Judging in Process Now!! Winners Announced by June 7, 2016

Posted on May 31, 2016

The judges are busy going through all the applicant’s videos and making their Top 6 choices. Those scores will be combined to determine the Grand Prize Winner in each Instrument, as well as the 6 Guitar Genre Winners. Stay Tuned as Winners will be posted on the homepage of this site and on social media. The Winners will also be contacted directly via phone and/or email. Thanks to everyone who participated- amazing talent displayed!! Good luck everyone!

We had folks from 170 countries visit this website (out of 196 on earth!)…. and applicants from 45 countries!

MUSIC = GLOBAL UNITY

Last days of registrations- closing May 20 at midnight Pacific

Posted on May 19, 2016

The last 2 days to register in the 2016 competition so get your videos uploaded! Deadline at midnight Pacific on May 20th.

Registration Deadline Extended to May 20th (from May 15) Apply Now!

Posted on May 9, 2016

We have extended the 2016 competition registration to May 20th to allow 5 more days for folks to register. We will be announcing the winners the first week of June, most likely still by June 1, but with the slight extension it may be a few days later. We hope you will get your videos in for this fabulous competition and incredible opportunities!